Dons World

Above: Orion all sky camera 19:30 05 Jan 2012.
Sky view normally ..center =zenith.
North = Up. South = down. West = Right. East = Left. Camera doesnt show horizon because of nearby yard lights. It does show from about 30 degrees above horizon all the way around. (Why moon lit nights are poor observing nights!)

The Earth magnetism uses a magnet and dental mirror suspended on a fine nylon thread. A red laser reflects off the mirror to a photocell. It can pick up a magnetized car about 100 meters away. Auroras (solar storms) also show up.

The meteor detector uses a TV antenna pointed towards Canada to pick up reflected TV signals from the ionized trails of incoming meteors. Each dot is a meteor. The higher the dot the longer its duration. Occasionally weather fronts and solar storms can affect the count.

The recording barometer can see pressure differences as little as 1/100 of an inch of mercury. Weather pressure cells causing winds record as well as low flying planes and copters. Regular graph spikes are likely temp spikes from local furnace or AC. Atomic bomb tests and exploding volcanos are recorded on a worldwide network.

The Skylight uses a silicon photocell looking at the North sky. It is sensitive to red light so its output is low if the sky is clear. White clouds have red in them so the output increases. It is used mainly to qualitatively measure cloud cover.

A Geiger counter records the background radiation in my basement lab. It measures alpha, beta, and gamma radiation from space and especially radon products that are liberated during earthquakes and earth construction projects.

The atmospherics or "spherics" is the output of low frequency Boltek lightning detector. It can detect strikes up to 300 miles away. Other manmade power noises can also record.

Seismic activity is picked up by a 10 hz vertical seismometer on the concrete floor of my basement. It is only 20 meters away from a major city thruway so city bus service on the halfhour records beautifully. On occasion, during wee hours of the morning, worldwide quakes can be recorded.

Below: An incoming meteor records its path on a ccd astro camera.

EXCEPTIONS . . . .ALWAYS EXCEPTIONS !
When people travel around the Earth, they may find themselves in time zones other than their home zone. This is called JET LAG and is a product of our societies technology. The quicker and greater the shift, the more prominent the lag effect will be. Several days may be required for the bodys biological clock to readjust to the new time zones life clock. The position of the Sun in the sky is and always will be the clock our minds and bodies use for mental and physical stability. (DJS)

The picture below was taken with a labtech webcam using a special picture stacking program. Over 400 star images were taken and combine to bring out stars as faint as 9th magnitude. The streaks are camera hot pixels. The program follows the star images so no clock drive was required. The center of the pix is the ring nebula in Lyre if you wish to use a star chart. The width of the pix is about 2 sky degrees. The whole camera fits in a shoe with a green laser for pointing at the part of the sky desired. Stars that smudge are usually red stars that focus at a different place. The camera couples to the computer by way of a 15 foot USB cable. The Moon pix on this page was made with the same camera coupled to a Meade EXT70ET scope with clock drive running and at prime focus.